


Confusing feelings

by Kyoshis_Fan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27629858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyoshis_Fan/pseuds/Kyoshis_Fan
Summary: Zukka and Mailee. Possibly some straightness idk yet (theres background kataang ig but it's not relevant) This is just for fun and also my first time writing so im just gonna apologize here in case you dont like it.
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

  
Mai wasn’t sure when it started. Maybe it was on the day Azula needed to speak to Zuko in private and told her to help Ty Lee untangle her braid. Maybe it happened on the boiling rock. Maybe it was during the party on Ember Island. She had noticed not being too happy about the interest the guys showed Ty Lee but brushed it off as jealousy. Jealousy was allowed. Relationships like the one she wanted weren’t. Maybe it was way beforethe party. She didn’t know. She only knew one thing: she had to make it stop before anyone would find out. No one could know.

  
“Mai, you’re finally back!”

Oh no

No no no no no no

She couldn’t be here

It’s okay” Mai tried to tell herself. “I´ll just hide it like I do with everything else”

She sighed. “Hello Ty Lee”

Ty Lee hugged her and Mai had to hold back a smile. What was going on with her? Why did she feel so mushy inside when she was there, but at the same time full of butterflies? This had to stop. Immediately.

Mai was in her room, unpacking her things when somebody knocked on the door.

  
“come in”

  
The door opened and there she was, as beau- uhh ..pink? pink. As pink as ever. She really needed to get a hold of herself.

  
“Hi”

  
“Dinner’s gonna be ready soon, you coming?”

  
“Yea of course”. Mai sighed. The trip had really exhausted her.

After dinner Mai went to talk to Zuko. He was the only person who knew about how she felt for girls and she was the only person who knew how he felt about guys. One guy in particular. That was also the reason behind their relationship, though Zuko was working on changing the law. Same sex relations had been banned by firelord Sozin over a century ago, and Zuko thought the council might change their mind if the firelord were to be someone who would very much like to have a same sex relationship. The only problem was the council didn’t know. He hadn’t told anyone but Mai. To be fair, he was the only person who knew about her. She nodded to his guards and knocked on his door.

  
“Who’s there?” a voice called from inside

  
“Mai”

  
“oh, come in”

  
Mai walked into his room. It was very large with the firelords bed right in the middle of it.

  
“are you waiting for anyone?” Mai asked

  
“no” he replied

  
She sighed. “who is it?”

  
“nobody”

  
Mai walked a bit closer and crossed her arms

  
“I can tell you’re hiding something”

  
“I am not, what did you come in here for anyways?”

  
She rolled her eyes. “Ugh fine. I wanted to talk to you about something”

-Zuko-

  
Zuko felt anxious. He couldn’t put his finger on why exactly but something was bothering him. Something Azula had said the last time he visited her. He thought back to what she had said when he left her room. “if father knew what you are he would have gotten rid of you the night mother left”. What could she possibly mean by that? He had a headache from thinking too much or maybe it was because he forgot to drink water again. Probably both. And then Mai had come to his room earlier. She’d wanted to talk but sensed immediately that something was off. That hadn’t stopped her from talking though. She’d asked him how much longer they were going to keep up this “relationship” of theirs. They both knew they didn’t have any romantic feelings for each other but this scheme had been necessary and the perfect thing to hide both of their identities. Mai had asked if, when and how he was gonna do it, it being telling the council, which was basically the whole world. The only thing he could answer was the if question, and the answer was yes. Maybe. Probably. At some point, right? He desperately wanted to be with the man he loved but would he ever love him back? Did he even like guys like that?

  
No. It couldn’t be. That would be too good to be real. He probably despised people who were like that. Sure, there had been times when Zuko had been almost sure Sokka liked him, but surely those bits of affection, quick finger brushes, stargazing, and of course their little fieldtrips together, just the two of them, surely those were just completely normal things to do with a platonic friend, right? Of course he was probably reading way too much into things, there was no way that Sokka was like him.

  
But then again, maybe the water tribes had different traditions. It would be just like them to change the law in favor for people like him just to spite firelord Sozin and maybe, just maybe, they never changed it in the first place. They were pretty traditional though, especially in the north from what he’d heard and-

  
Crap, he was overthinking again. Zuko walked over to his bed and laid down. He put a pillow over his face and screamed. He hated this. He’d been yearning for things he couldn’t have for years but this one thing was so close and yet so far away. He had cried for the first few nights, knowing that Sokka would never love him back and knowing that his suspicions had been confirmed. After staying up overthinking for hours his eyelids finally started to flutter. Soon he was sound asleep, having dreams about wild adventures with boomerang guy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is up with Sokka, will his friends figure out what's going on? Ty Lee opens up to Suki.

Chapter 2

_-Katara-_

Katara woke up. She got dressed, did her hair and went to look for Aang. It was a peaceful morning at the western airtemple and the waterbender saw Aang. Her boyfriend. Just thinking that made her feel happy all over. Aang was doing his morning meditation so Katara found herself something to eat for breakfast and sat down. After meditating Aang walked over to her.

“good morning” he said, with a smile on his face

“morning”. She wasn’t entirely awake yet

A very exhausted looking Sokka stumbled over to them. Katara was beginning to be worried about him. He looked more exhausted every morning. He was in a bad mood all the time too but she didn’t dare to ask why and they had fought a lot in the past few weeks. Katara had no clue as to why he was losing sleep but it was time to find out.

“good morning”

“gmornhm”

“You’re looking tired, are you okay?”

“fine”

“alright”

He’d tell her at some point. Sokka wasn’t very good at having secrets, of any sort and he usually couldn’t wait to tell his friends about whatever thing was occupying his mind. This one though, this one might be a little harder to figure out. He wasn’t talking at all. Something was really bothering him.

Katara tried approaching him again after a few hours.

“hey, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, leave me alone.”

He stood up and walked away.

Katara went to find Aang who was training with Toph.

“Hey, have you guys noticed how weird Sokka’s been acting?”

“noticed?” Toph said. “his heartbeat goes up to eel-hound speed every time approaches him. It’s like he’s scared of us. It just keeps getting worse”

“yeah, something’s up and it’s really bothering him” Aang said, with a look of worry on his face

Katara nodded. “and we have to find out what it is and help him”

“I’m not so sure” Toph said. She sat down.

“but we need to help him, don’t you see that something’s going on and it’s not good for him? He hasn’t been himself lately”

“yes, but if you were him, would you want us to meddle in your personal things?”

Katara sighed. “not really, no, he’s obviously not okay and people often don’t know what’s best for them”

“well Aang? What do you think?” Katara asked him.

“uhh” Aang looked conflicted. “people often don’t know what’s good for them, like when the monks were gonna send me to the eastern Airtemple, because they thought I could be taught better away from monk Gyatso and my friends. I’m still not sure they knew any better than me what was good for me. On one hand, Sokka wouldn’t want us to interfere with his personal thoughts but on the other hand he doesn’t seem okay and it looks like he’s neither sleeping nor eating well.”

“he’s not” Toph stated. “I wake up almost every night from his heartbeat and breathing, like he’s having nightmares. The other night he even woke up screaming but you guys weren’t there”

Aang and Katara looked at each other. They had gone stargazing a couple nights ago, on a particularly beautiful evening. It had been very romantic and the closest thing to a date the couple had experienced. Aang definitely felt bad. Katara could see it.

“well, what did you do?” he asked Toph

“I asked him what happened and he said nothing and that he was fine but that was a lie”

“and then?” Aang asked.

Toph shrugged. “he went back to sleep”

“and that’s all you talked about?” Katara asked

“yeah, why?”

“wh-“

“hey everyone” Sokka was approaching them. “I was just about to leave for a walk. See ya!” he greeted, turning around and walking away.

_-Ty Lee-_

Back on Kyoshi Island Ty Lee and the other Kyoshi warriors had just finished a training session. After washing off their makeup the girls walked over to the biggest house in the village to have dinner together. It was also where Ty Lee had been staying for the past few days, she’d left the fire nation capital the day after Mai came back from her trip. Suki approached her, holding a letter.

“here, this came with a hawk a few minutes ago” Suki said, handing Ty Lee the letter. Ty Lee smiled.

“thank you!”

“no problem” Suki said. “the hawk is at Ren’s house”

“thanks” Ty Lee said, distracted by the letter.

Suki left. Ty Lee opened the letter.

_Dear Ty Lee_

_I hope you’re well. I’m doing good. Palace life is boring as usual. I lost one of my knives which made me slightly annoyed._

_P.S. I think I’m going to break up with Zuko._

_Greetings, Mai._

Ty Lee smiled. She’s so adorable, she thought. She really wanted to tell someone that she had a crush on Mai but what would happen? How would her friends react? How would Suki react? Ty Lee looked up to the fierce warrior. She desperately wanted to know what would happen if she told her. Would she be kicked out? The earth kingdom was pretty conservative after all. She shook her head. “think happy thoughts” she mumbled. After putting the letter back into the envelope, she stood up and decided to tell Suki as soon as the opportunity would present itself.

After dinner Ty Lee volunteered to do the dishes. While she was doing so Suki approached her.

“are you okay? You seem down”

Ty Lee winced. That was the opportunity. “yes, I’m doing good, but I want to tell you something. It’s kind of important”

Suki smiled. “sure thing. Meet me outside when you’re done?”

Ty Lee nodded. Suki left. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in and inhaled deeply. “It’ll be alright” she quietly said to herself. Suki had been so nice and welcoming of her when she’d joined the Kyoshi warriors, even after she’d won them earlier which resulted in Suki landing in the Boiling Rock prison. Surely this wouldn’t ruin their friendship. It’s not like she had feelings for Suki.

After cleaning the dishes Ty Lee dried her hands and walked outside. It was a beautiful night. The stars were already visible and the moon was almost full. Ty Lee sighed. It reminded her of the nights she and Mai had gone stargazing together. Of course Azula was always somewhere around but still, those nights, just her and Mai had been some of the best times in her life.

Suki was sitting on the railing of the neighbours terrace.

“hi” she smiled. Ty Lee walked over to her. “what did you want to tell me?”

Ty Lee swallowed. It was going to be okay. “It’s nothing, really. I’ve probably just been overthinking, that’s all”

Suki smiled, patting the railing beside her, signaling Ty Lee to sit down. “It’s okay, you can tell me, I’m your friend”

Ty Lee sat down beside her. “okay, but please don’t tell anyone”

“of course not”

Ty Lee took a deep breath. “I- I like girls”

Suki smiled. “any one girl in particular?”

Ty Lee stared at her. “you already knew, didn’t you?”

Suki laughed. “I’m not entirely stupid, you know. I’ve seen the way you look at her. And the way your face lights up every time I bring you a letter from her is just adorable”

Ty Lee smiled weakly. “I just like her so much but I don’t know how to tell her” she paused. “You’re sure you’re okay with it?”

Suki nodded. “of course. Your secret’s safe with me. Also, just between the two of us, I can’t say I’ve never had any... desires… toward other girls”

Ty Lee stared at her in disbelief. “but, I thought you and Sokka-“ she trailed off

Suki laughed. “Sokka is my best friend and we used to date. It’s not impossible to like boys too. Maybe you do have a chance with that special someone” she winked.

Ty Lee nodded slowly. “thank you, that means a lot”

Suki hugged her. “no problem”

Ty Lee hugged her back.

“I’d appreciate it if you could keep my little secret to yourself” Suki whispered in her ear

Ty Lee smiled into Sukis shoulder. “no problem” she whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i made suki bi i have no regrets regarding that she is a queen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finds himself stranded alone. Sokka takes a walk and thinks.

_-Zuko-_

Zuko had made a decision. It hadn’t been an easy one but things were going good in the fire nation and he had decided to visit the avatar. More importantly, the avatars friends. Actually, it was just one specific friend. The others were nice too but he was definitely the nicest. Okay maybe not the nicest but definitely the cutest. Aang would definitely snatch the prize for the nicest one. Officially he was visiting the avatar for some important firelord business. He had packed his things earlier today and would be leaving tomorrow morning. Oh, and Mai had broken up with him earlier. It didn’t bother him at all, which sounded like a lie now that he thought about it, but it really didn’t. It felt more like a weight had been lifted off of his chest. He felt really happy for Mai and, although he hadn’t wanted to get her hopes up, he’d told her he was almost sure Ty Lee liked her back. Avatar knew she’d had a crush on her for ages and the yearning was probably mutual. He hoped so, at least. They’d be an adorable couple although they had very different personalities.

Zuko sat down on his bed, in his big empty room. He rubbed his temples and sighed. He missed his uncle but he was currently somewhere else in the castle and he was too tired to go look. It was still early but Zuko felt exhausted. Always being in charge of so many people was exhausting. He hoped his trip would make him feel better. He stood up, straightening out his robes. He should probably take them off, after all, they were very obviously royal.

The following morning Zuko woke up early. His things were already packed up and on the airship, not that he needed much. Lee, the commander of the ship was already shouting orders from somewhere above. They’d be gone in half an hour. Zuko would’ve preferred traveling alone in a small airship, a war balloon, like the one he and Sokka had used but apparently that wasn’t an option for the young and just recently appointed firelord. He rolled his shoulders and yawned. Then he stepped on the ship. Commander Lee greeted him. “Firelord Zuko” He was about to bow down to the floor but Zuko stopped him.

“you don’t need to do that, just do the normal thing”

Lee nodded, doing the traditional fist-against-palm greeting. Zuko did it back.

“we’ll be taking off in a few minutes”

Zuko nodded. “set course north. I’ll let you know when we’re there”

Lee bowed quickly and rushed away, giving his people orders.

Zuko stood at the railing, looking down, where the sea met land and the beach turned into a forest. They’d been on their way for hours and Zuko was getting tired. He kind of missed Appa, who could go distances like this in much shorter time. Zuko stared at the sea of green beneath him. This was where he’d been complaining to a badgerfrog about his life problems. It felt like ages ago. He heard footsteps behind him. Then something hit him on the head from behind.

When Zuko woke up he was laying on the ground. He heard all sorts of animal noises. Looking around realization dawned on him. He’d been ambushed and now he was laying on the ground in some forest, somewhere south of his destination. The story of how Sokka and the others had been ambushed by the Kyoshi warriors came to his mind. He smiled. He couldn’t see anyone else though. His head hurt and he tried to stand up, but a shock of pain stopped him from doing that. He looked down. Probably a broken leg. Katara could fix that in no time. If only he knew how he was going to get there. He tried pulling himself into an upright position and leaned against a tree. Somewhere a badgerfrog croaked. Then everything went dark again.

_-Sokka-_

Sokka felt something for sure but didn’t know what. He’d always had trouble understanding feelings but had gotten better at it over the years. He couldn’t stop thinking about the boy with the scar. He climbed over a large root sticking up from the ground and almost tripped. It wasn’t in the same way as before though. Before they had become allies it was more of a fearful thing. They’d constantly been scared of Zuko finding them. He followed them all over the world and destroyed things in the process. But now Sokka thought of him in a different way. He missed him? It occurred to him that these were the very same woods Zuko had wandered off into when they rejected him at first. He’d felt strangely guilty that night, as if Zuko hadn’t tried to kill or capture them multiple times for months.

Sokka sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. This walk of thoughts had just been more of confusing feelings toward Zuko. He shook his head. He was still confused as to how he felt about Zuko so he tried to check off each feeling. Anger? No. Sadness? A little bit, but he thought it was mostly because he missed his friend. Happiness? Nah. Well maybe he was happy for Zuko. He was doing well being the firelord, he had a wonderful girlfriend and the nicest uncle... his thoughts trailed off. Girlfriend. Suki had been his girlfriend but they’d broken up a while ago. They were on good terms though, but Sokka missed her. He mainly missed cuddling with her at night, Suki got really hot when she slept and it was sort of like cuddling with a pouch of hot water. Only much more alive and pretty and strong, so maybe not like that at all. It was like cuddling a firebender and all of a sudden Sokka found himself wondering what cuddling Zuko would be like. They had hugged a few times and Sokka had noticed how warm Zukos embrace was and how he was much better at hugging than one could expect. He shook his head. No such thoughts were allowed.

It was time to head back to the air temple. There was only a slight problem; while Sokka had been busy thinking it had gone almost completely dark. Not like there was a whole lo of sun to begin with, he was really far into the forest. He knew which direction to go to get back but wasn’t sure he should risk getting lost in the dark. Sighing, Sokka sat back, feeling the trees bark against his back. Diving back into his thoughts he closed his eyes. Firebender warm cuddles. It was probably called heatbending or something, the heat Zuko radiated from his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed it. I got the rise and the shadow of Kyoshi for christmas and am currently eating gummies on the couch. Happy holidays!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka manages to make sense of his feelings. Mai makes a decision.

_Mai_

_Sunlight fell through the large windows of the library, revealing how much dust floated around in the large room. Shelves were stacked with books and scrolls all the way up to the ceiling. It was quiet, though when Mai listened closely she could hear quiet sniffling from a corner, where two bookshelves met in an L shape. She walked closer and saw a girl there. Her long braid flowed down her back and almost touched the floor. The girl was sitting with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around them. Mai walked closer. “Are you okay?” she asked carefully, trying not to startle the girl who turned around, wiping her tears off._

_“I’m okay” she said._

_Mai smiled at her. “You’re also new here, aren’t you? I saw you in class earlier. I’m Mai.”_

_The girl smiled, and replied with “Ty Lee”._

_“What?” Mai asked, a look of confusion on her face._

_“My name is Ty Lee”_

Mai woke up. She reached for the cup of water that she always kept on her nightstand and drank half of it. She put the cup back and laid down again. Her first encounter with Ty Lee.

_The two girls were sitting in a bottom bunk bed, talking to each other. It was late at night. Ty Lee sat in Mais bed and they were sharing a blanket, whispering to each other._

_“Why were you crying earlier?”_

_“I’m new here and I felt alone, but now I have you” Ty Lee gave a weak smile and Mai was certain that wasn’t the entire reason, but maybe Ty Lee would tell her at some point. She was much too familiar with feeling alone. As the only child of a rich and busy family she’d never had a real friend and been alone for most of her childhood. Maybe Ty Lee could be that person, her first friend ever. Mai smiled at the thought._

Mai was bored. It reminded her of her childhood and the fact that she taught herself to throw knives out of boredom. She looked back at her fire academy days and the hours of playing her, Ty Lee and Azula had had together. Of course there had also been studying and classes but they had managed to sneak in a fair amount of play time together. It really was because of Azula that she had first become friends with Ty Lee. They had both been scared of Azula, even back then but somehow a friendship had formed. Now Azula was at a mental institution and Ty Lee was on Kyoshi Island, training the other Kyoshi warriors in chi blocking and learning more about the world than she could have as fire nation royalty. Mai missed her. She’d written her a letter a while ago and her heart couldn’t help but jump when the hawk came back, holding a letter from _her_.

Ty Lee had invited her to stay with her and the other Kyoshi warriors and Mai wanted to stay with them, only she needed an excuse. She could teach them knife throwing, but was it enough of an excuse to stay? She really wanted to see Ty Lee again. Mai sighed and covered her face in her hands. Life was hard and liking someone you knew you couldn’t have was even worse. She groaned, sitting up from her bed. Decisions needed to be made. The letter was on her desk, which seemed close, but it was really far away in the giant room the firelords friend was staying in. Though it was still the same room as before, so technically it was the firelords girlfriends room. Mai laid back down. When writing letters you first had to decide what you were going to write so getting up could wait. She was exhausted anyways.

When Mai brought the hawk to the first guard she saw he looked at her a bit weird but didn’t deny her request to send it off to Kyoshi Island. Mai went back to her quarters. She had a feeling people who worked at the palace thought it was a bit strange that the firelords ex-girlfriend was still there, even when he was on what they assumed to be an important mission. It _was_ a bit weird. A lot of couples that broke up tried going back to being friends but it almost never worked, at least not according to what Mai had seen in her life, which wasn’t a lot but still. Of course it would work if neither had ever been actually interested. That one wasn’t very hard to figure out. It was time to leave and see how things would turn out at Kyoshi Island. Mai had agreed to come visit _her_.

_Sokka_

Sokka woke up with a start. It was morning already. He looked around, searching for what had alerted him. There it was again. He heard a noise, not too far away. It sounded like someone was calling for help. He recognized the voice immediately but it couldn’t be. His mind was probably playing tricks on him, like when he drank cactus juice, but this time no cactus juice had been involved, which meant it had to be real, right? Maybe he wasn’t hallucinating at all. Maybe it was actually Zuko, calling for help from somewhere in the woods. It occurred to Sokka that when people call for help they need just that, help, so he got up. Fumbling around in his pockets he found a few berries and nuts. “this’ll have to do for breakfast” he mumbled and stuffed his mouth with a handful of berries. Then he hurried toward the voice.

When Sokka found the voices owner he couldn’t believe his eyes, though technically, he had been right before. His brain apparently still worked, contrary to what Katara said sometimes. He stumbled closer. “Zuko? No way! Is that really you?”

Zuko was half-sitting against a tree, his right leg stretched out but in kind of a weird position. It looked…wrong?

Zuko smiled weakly. “yes. Hello, Zuko here” he chuckled.

Sokka grinned at the memory of Zuko awkwardly lifting his hand, trying to show him and the others that he was a changed man. Then his face shifted to a look of worry. Are you okay? What happened?

Zuko pulled himself up until he was sitting. He grimaced. “I’m fine but I think my leg is broken”

Sokka took a look at it. He didn’t have much medical experience but it didn’t look so good. They’d need Kataras help. He winced at all the mean things he’d wanted to say to her earlier. Good thing he hadn’t said anything. It had just gotten on his nerves that she kept asking him what was wrong though he knew she only wanted to help. That walk really had cleared out his mind. Somehow he felt more rested today, after sleeping somewhere in the forest than after nights of tossing and turning around in his warm sleeping bag. He also felt hungry for the first time in quite a while. Being alone and clearing his mind had helped him a lot and he now knew what he felt.

“ahem”

Sokka lost his train of thought. He stared at Zuko who sat there and whose cheeks slowly turned the colour of a tomato. “Sorry to bother your, uhm, thinking but I would like to be able to walk again at some point. Could you maybe help me?”

Sokka shook his head “no yeah, sure, of course”

Zuko looked at him, his face now a more normal colour. “you okay?” he asked. “you seem very lost in thought”

“yeah, uhm, I think its best if we stay together, right?”

Zuko nodded. That made sense. One could definitely get lost in these woods. Not that he had any experience or anything. For sure not. Sokka looked lost in his thoughts again. He looked like they were quite intense, brows furrowed and all. Zuko decided to give him a minute.

Sokka had figured it out. It made sense, really. He’d felt so on edge because of Zuko. Sleepless nights, not being able to eat properly, feeling restless. It all made sense. Sokka never thought he’d ever think so but his feelings finally made sense. He had been scared of something happening to Zuko. His shoulders were less tense already because now Zuko was here and he could finally protect him in case something happened. He felt protective over the young firelord. He also felt the urge to hug him and, preferably, never let go.

The only problem was, Zuko had a broken leg.

Somehow they managed to get close to the airtemple. It was already starting to get dark again. ´ _The others must be worried´_ Sokka thought. They were currently right under the airtemples complicated, upside-down buildings. Sokka called to the others. Somewhere over their heads Appa let out a roar. Zuko had told him what happened though it had been quite hard to understand, but Sokka was pretty sure he got the gist of it.

Somehow the others had heard them and came to rescue on Appa. Zuko firebent a little bit so they could see their exact location. When they had all safely arrived at the temple everyone had to hug Zuko and Sokka. It was Chaotic.

“where were you? We were worried about you”

“ouch Toph what was that for??”

“Where the hell did Zuko come from and what happened to him?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi thanks for reading. it occurred to me while reading over this that if someone else wrote this i'd probably enjoy it (I have bad taste, i know) and that motivated me to write more but it was also a strange thing to admit to myself. idk. I'm still not entirely sure where i'm going with this story but i hope you like it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mai and Ty Lee are roommates. Toph and Katara make a bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya like it. i really wanna write more about Suki bc shes my favourite but at the same time i am terrified of ruining her character but oh well. it is what it is.  
> i got the kyoshi novels for christmas and man they are good. holy cow on a treebanch. definitely recommend.

_Suki_

Suki accompanied Ty Lee to welcome Mai at the shore. She stood by as the pair hugged and even watched as Ty Lee pressed a tiny kiss on Mais cheek. Mais cheeks started turning the colour of her robes and at first glance Ty didn’t seem to notice but Suki saw her blush a little and bury her face even deeper in Mais shoulder to hide it. Apparenty the little pep-talk she’d given her earlier had paid off. _Be confident. I’m certain she likes you back._ Suki was certain. If Mai’s bright red cheeks didn’t give her away then her wide eyes and facial expression as Suki told her she and Ty Lee would have to share a bed definitely did. Mai wasn’t the only one looking at her in horror though. Ty Lee stared at her as if she wished to vanish into thin air. Suki smiled to herself. She felt a bit mean in hindsight but still, it had been _very_ fun to see both of them this awkward, even though the bed was huge and could probably fit up to three people.

At dinner Mai explained why she left the palace. Apparently she felt she was no longer welcome staying there, after breaking up with the firelord himself, even though the feelings were mutual and they remained friends. She said that maybe she was just imagining things but she’d still felt uneasy and left the palace as soon as she could. She was happy to be on Kyoshi Island with Ty Lee and the others and said she looked forward to getting to know them better. Ty Lee was beaming.

The way Ty Lee’s face lit up even more when Mai told them they’d broken up was adorable. Suki saw her try to keep a straight face and somehow succeeding, although she herself couldn’t help but chuckle. “lovesick idiots” she muttered under her breath. Someone at Sukis right agreed. One of the other warriors, Rin, was sitting next to her. She’d heard Suki mutter and couldn’t help but agree. Suki smiled at her. “I know right! They keep making these eyes at each other and it’s the cutest thing” she imitated Mai’s current facial expression. “Who would’ve thought she acts like this when she has her guard down” Thank the spirits they were too busy chatting to notice. Rin agreed with Suki and they continued eating.

In the evening Suki spotted the pair walking around. Ty showed Mai the village and the dojo, and she heard her tell Mai that they’d go see Kyoshis shrine on the other side of the island tomorrow.

She remembered the first time she visited the shrine. It was just before joining the Kyoshi warriors. She’d been around eight years old when she first asked her father to join. He had given her a stern look and a firm “No.” After whining about it for almost a week with no results, she had decided to spice things up a bit and run away. She’d wandered around the island and found shelter from a rainstorm in Kyoshis shrine. The avatars relics had given her the courage she needed to go up to the Kyoshi warriors leader and ask her to train her. She’d told her the story of how the Kyoshi warriors came to exist and asked her why she wanted to join so badly. Suki had looked at the ground and said she wanted to protect her friend. That was enough reason for the older girl to allow her to join.

She smiled to herself. “Fingers crossed it works out between them” she thought. Spirits knew they liked each other.

The following morning neither Mai nor Ty Lee showed up for practice. Suki didn’t worry about them though, they deserved to sleep in for once. 

_Mai_

When Mai woke up the day after her arrival to Kyoshi, Ty Lee was sort of laying on top of her, with her head resting on Mai’s chest and her arm draped over her. Her heart instantly started beating faster. Mai was sure everyone on the island heard it but Ty Lee’s continuous calm breathing said otherwise. Mai smiled to herself. In this truly giant bed, they had still ended up cuddling. Maybe she _did_ like her back. Zuko was certain about it though he was maybe not the best person to ask. His people skills were imperfect to say the least. Mai allowed herself to drift back to sleep.

_________________

When Ty Lee woke up, her head resting on Mai’s chest she almost jumped from her embrace but restrained herself. She glanced up at Mai’s face and came to the conclusion that she was asleep. Her breathing calmed. She listened to Mai’s heartbeat, steady and strong and drifted back into the land of dreams.

_________________

It was late afternoon. The girls had spent most of their morning cuddling and were currently somewhere outside on the island. The waves crashed in the distance. The two had barely spoken together all day. Mai felt the silence hover over them like a dark and heavy cloud and decided to break it. “Ty, there’s something I need to tell you. I-” She was interrupted by the loud screech of a bird, somewhere far up in the sky. Stupid birds and their stupid need to make noise at inconvenient times. Ty Lee looked at her with concern in her eyes. Mai swallowed the sentence she was about to say and said something else instead. “Are you okay?”

Ty Lee nodded before finally saying it. “I’m okay, but there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” She took a deep breath. “I, I sort of like you.”

Mai was stunned.

Ty Lee looked at her and started rambling. Mai was still working through what had just been revealed to her. “oh spirits, I shouldn’t have said anything, but I wanted something to happen between us and Suki was sure there was something there and-”

Mai kissed her.

Ty Lee’s eyes went wide but then she closed them and leaned into the kiss.

It felt wonderful. Mai allowed herself to melt into the kiss and it felt like everything she’d ever wanted just came true. This was so much better than kissing Zuko. Ty Lee was warm, and she had very soft lips. Her arms wrapped around Mai’s waist and pulled her closer. Mai allowed herself to enjoy it for a little bit longer and then pulled away. Ty Lee looked at her. Mai tried to say something but all she managed was “Suki was absolutely right”. And then, Ty Lee started crying. She couldn’t help it. Mai looked at her, confused. “why are you crying?”

“I’m just so happy” Ty sniffled. “you’re really sure you like me back?”

Mai nodded, unable to say anything.

Ty Lee looked at her with love in her eyes.

Mai smiled and hugged her tighter.

They stood there, in a warm embrace for what felt like an eternity, but in a good way. Mai never wanted to let go.

_Katara_

Katara had never seen Sokka so eager to learn how to take care of people before. She watched with a smile on her face as he frantically ran back and forth, trying to fulfill Zukos every wish. His bad mood was completely gone. There was seemingly only one thing that he could focus on right now and that was Zuko. Katara looked at the two of them with a knowing smile before turning to Aang. “those two are adorable together” she looked at him, trying to figure out if Aang realized what was going on.

“yeah, yeah” he was once again doing his marble trick and not at all paying any attention to what she had just said. She gently nudged him in the side but didn’t say anything as she was interrupted by Toph. Aang was still busy with the marbles. Toph reached up to whisper in her ear. “are you seeing what I’m seeing” she grinned wide. Katara nodded. “do you think they know how this looks to other people?” she chuckled. Toph shook her head. “they both have elevated heart rate though, but that doesn’t mean they’re aware of just how gay this looks”

Katara looked at her. “gay?”

“yeah, you know, gay”

Katara shook her head. “I don’t”

Toph turned so that she was facing Katara. “holy Shu. I know a word that Sugar queen doesn’t. No. Way.”

Katara grimaced at her. “just tell me what it means”

Toph thought for a bit. “being gay is when you like people of the same gender as you are. Zuko is totally gay and he likes Sokka”

Katara stared at her in astonishment. “there’s a word for that?” she asked.

“yea I just told you”

“huh. That’s cool. I didn’t know that.”

Toph had a surprised look on her face. “really? I mean I know, I did just explain it to you, but you don’t even know a different word for being gay?”

Katara shook her head. “It’s not seen as a bad thing in the water tribes, at least not the southern tribe. The northern tribe is much different. They are much more traditional, women aren’t even allowed to learn using waterbending to fight, only to heal.”

Toph scoffed.

Katara continued. “anyway, I don’t know how it is in the north but in the south it wasn’t seen as a bad thing, but also not talked about, you know? We did hear some stories that not everyone is okay with others being gay though” Saying the new word was fun. Gaygaygaygaygaygay.

“I don’t get why. I don’t care what Sokka and Zuko are up to.” Toph shrugged. “It’s their life, ya know.”

Katara nodded. “yeah. I never knew there was a word for it. Thanks Toph.” She smiled.

Toph elbowed her side.

“So when do you think something’s going to happen between them?”

“I’m not sure. It’s gotta be soon though, just look at them” Toph pointed her head in their direction. Sokka was currently kneeling before Zuko, who had occupied a bedroll, and was giving him water. “look at them. He broke his leg, not his arms. He can drink water himself and they are both aware of that”

Katara tried to suppress a chuckle but failed miserably. “gay idiots” she mumbled. Toph couldn’t help but laugh.

They sat down and for a while, there was almost complete silence, except from the occasional sounds of nature. Aang had left to groom Appa.

“So” Toph broke the silence. “let’s say they haven’t figured out that they like each other yet, because they totally do. Wanna bet?”

Katara looked at her. “Sure thing” she said with a smirk on her face. “But we need to bet on everything. One. When will they start dating. And two. When will they tell us.” She counted on her fingers.

Toph grinned at her.

**Author's Note:**

> hi if you're here i guess you read this huh, so uh thanks i hope you enjoyed it  
> The only reason i'm writing this is cause i was bored so i might abandon it idk yet sorry :/  
> Also: English is not my first language so please forgive me if i say anything wrong lol


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